James M. Jones

Institution

University of Delaware

Current Position

Professor of Psychology

Highest Degree

Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Yale University, 1970

Professor James Jones' major interests concern psychosocial mechanisms for adapting to and coping with the chronic accessibility of racism as a potential explanation for life’s experiences. This “Universal context of racism” (UCR), has motivational consequences that include both self-protection (reducing the negative effects of stigma and discrimination) and self-enhancement (social comparative and individual mechanisms for maintaining self-worth). Research in our lab focuses on the cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to activation of the UCR for both targets of racism and members of groups historically viewed as the perpetrators of racism.

The second major area of work explores the implication of TRIOS, a psychological worldview that combines African-inspired processes of Time, Rhythm Improvisation, Orality and Spirituality as an individual differences construct that predicts overall positive psychological states, and effective coping with challenging circumstances. A self-report measure of TRIS has been developed and is to assess individual variations in TRIOS level and their effects on responses to and coping with the UCR.

The third area of research is the social psychology of time. That interest is concerned with individual orientations toward the past, present and future, and how those differences in temporal perspective may influence the development of achievement motivations and personal expressive styles. The Temporal Orientation Scale (TOS) shows reliable differences between Past (high neuroticism, pessimism and depression), Present(optimism, extraversion, and impulsivity and lack of concern with future consequences) and Future (conscientiousness, concern with future consequences, goal-directed behavior and optimism). This interest also involves determining how cognitive and emotional factors influence the perception of the passage of time.